Coal, wood or 'eco logs'.
Discussion
I had my stove installed in March. I've lit it a handful of times in March, burning some of my remaining stock of seasoned hardwood (15% moisture content).
I would like to order in my fuel supplies for the coming winter now else knowing me I will leave it too late.
I'm torn between using wood, coal or even those weird eco logs.
Coal seem to be easier to store, easier to buy in the middle of winter, burns hotter and the smokeless stuff will emit less sooty deposits keeping my chimney nice and clean(ish). Using man maths, I've worked it out to be about 45p/hour to run in my 5kw stove. Downsides are it is a bit messier to store indoors, creates more dust and doesn't burn as nicely as wood.
Wood looks nicer to store indoors, is more traditional and is prettier whilst burning. Man maths results in a cost of about 25p/hour. Downsides are that in my small stove I may need to cut it up even more than the supplier's smallest stated supply which would be a fair amount of work and the storage of wood takes up more space.
Ultimately I suspect I will end up ordering both and mix and matching it, but I am interested in what other experienced stovemeisters use in their stoves. I've not had a stove before and have always used wood on an open fire.
I would like to order in my fuel supplies for the coming winter now else knowing me I will leave it too late.
I'm torn between using wood, coal or even those weird eco logs.
Coal seem to be easier to store, easier to buy in the middle of winter, burns hotter and the smokeless stuff will emit less sooty deposits keeping my chimney nice and clean(ish). Using man maths, I've worked it out to be about 45p/hour to run in my 5kw stove. Downsides are it is a bit messier to store indoors, creates more dust and doesn't burn as nicely as wood.
Wood looks nicer to store indoors, is more traditional and is prettier whilst burning. Man maths results in a cost of about 25p/hour. Downsides are that in my small stove I may need to cut it up even more than the supplier's smallest stated supply which would be a fair amount of work and the storage of wood takes up more space.
Ultimately I suspect I will end up ordering both and mix and matching it, but I am interested in what other experienced stovemeisters use in their stoves. I've not had a stove before and have always used wood on an open fire.
I take it you have a dual fuel stove, what model is it?
My understanding is that coal is dirtier than seasoned firewood, but I may be wrong. Coal can burn for longer, it's almost impossible to keep a wood fire going overnight in my experience. You need a different setup to burn coal or wood, you shouldn't mix them.
I haven't tried eco-logs but I tried making my own blocks of compressed recycled paper. Not worth the effort, not enough energy and too much ash.
So I'd recommend seasoned hardwood.
My understanding is that coal is dirtier than seasoned firewood, but I may be wrong. Coal can burn for longer, it's almost impossible to keep a wood fire going overnight in my experience. You need a different setup to burn coal or wood, you shouldn't mix them.
I haven't tried eco-logs but I tried making my own blocks of compressed recycled paper. Not worth the effort, not enough energy and too much ash.
So I'd recommend seasoned hardwood.
It is an Aga Little Wenlock, 5kw and quite small. It is multifuel.
I'm not worried about keeping it going overnight, I intend to light it when I get home from work (5pm ish) and keep it going for 5-6 hours, maybe 5 times a week during the winter. It will be used to supplement the central heating and not replace it.
Figures I've found suggest in a similar sized stove to mine I can expect to burn about 1.7kg/wood per hour (about two split logs) or about 1kg of smokeless coal per hour. My limited experience suggests that two logs per hour is about right, give or take. My only experience of coal (open fire only) suggests it lasts ruddy ages, so 1kg/hour may be about right.
Smokeless seems to be about £10-11 per 25kg bag, and I can get 1.6cubic meters of seasoned hardwood (roughly 650kg?) for about £90.
I'm not worried about keeping it going overnight, I intend to light it when I get home from work (5pm ish) and keep it going for 5-6 hours, maybe 5 times a week during the winter. It will be used to supplement the central heating and not replace it.
Figures I've found suggest in a similar sized stove to mine I can expect to burn about 1.7kg/wood per hour (about two split logs) or about 1kg of smokeless coal per hour. My limited experience suggests that two logs per hour is about right, give or take. My only experience of coal (open fire only) suggests it lasts ruddy ages, so 1kg/hour may be about right.
Smokeless seems to be about £10-11 per 25kg bag, and I can get 1.6cubic meters of seasoned hardwood (roughly 650kg?) for about £90.
DJC said:
It is an Aga Little Wenlock, 5kw and quite small. It is multifuel.
I'm not worried about keeping it going overnight, I intend to light it when I get home from work (5pm ish) and keep it going for 5-6 hours, maybe 5 times a week during the winter. It will be used to supplement the central heating and not replace it.
Figures I've found suggest in a similar sized stove to mine I can expect to burn about 1.7kg/wood per hour (about two split logs) or about 1kg of smokeless coal per hour. My limited experience suggests that two logs per hour is about right, give or take. My only experience of coal (open fire only) suggests it lasts ruddy ages, so 1kg/hour may be about right.
Smokeless seems to be about £10-11 per 25kg bag, and I can get 1.6cubic meters of seasoned hardwood (roughly 650kg?) for about £90.
Mine is wood only, around 80% efficient, I reckon 5 logs lasts the evening. Open a few doors and 5Kw heats the whole 4 bed house, I'd have to turn the (downstairs hall) thermostat up a long way to get the gas CH to kick in.I'm not worried about keeping it going overnight, I intend to light it when I get home from work (5pm ish) and keep it going for 5-6 hours, maybe 5 times a week during the winter. It will be used to supplement the central heating and not replace it.
Figures I've found suggest in a similar sized stove to mine I can expect to burn about 1.7kg/wood per hour (about two split logs) or about 1kg of smokeless coal per hour. My limited experience suggests that two logs per hour is about right, give or take. My only experience of coal (open fire only) suggests it lasts ruddy ages, so 1kg/hour may be about right.
Smokeless seems to be about £10-11 per 25kg bag, and I can get 1.6cubic meters of seasoned hardwood (roughly 650kg?) for about £90.
So in your calculations, what do you think the cost ratio is between wood and coal?
I have a chainsaw and a log splitter, so some of my firewood is free. Failing that, I know a farmer that will do hardwood at £25/bag which is ~£50 for 1.6 m3 so it's worth shopping around.
The last year we were at the farm we used this in the wood burner.
http://www.ecoadvance.co.uk/firewood.php
The heat given out is immense - carries a warning on the packaging to not use too much at once. Being a typical bloke I thought b
ks to that and pretty much filled the burner up. Bad move!
Once the room was warmed up, you only need to put one on at a time, let t burn down to smouldering embers, then put another one on and it will catch up by itself.
As for cost - dunno, we were paying over £10/day in coal to feed the rayburn so a bag of this stuff every 2/3 days to heat the living room paled into insignificance! See if you can get hold of a single bag or two first to try and see.
http://www.ecoadvance.co.uk/firewood.php
The heat given out is immense - carries a warning on the packaging to not use too much at once. Being a typical bloke I thought b
ks to that and pretty much filled the burner up. Bad move!Once the room was warmed up, you only need to put one on at a time, let t burn down to smouldering embers, then put another one on and it will catch up by itself.
As for cost - dunno, we were paying over £10/day in coal to feed the rayburn so a bag of this stuff every 2/3 days to heat the living room paled into insignificance! See if you can get hold of a single bag or two first to try and see.
Edited by chris1roll on Thursday 7th July 22:57
of the fuels mentioned, seasoned wood will burn with the lowest air inlet. Coal and derivatives will require more air in the bottom of the fire, and hence more heat up the chimney. The main reason why a wood burner is so good, is that it will run with very low air flow and subsequent chimney loss.
Coal etc. also produce far more ash, shale, clinker etc, which means that the fire has to be cleaned out more often. If you burn only wood; it works better on a bed of wood ash with no grate.
Coal etc. also produce far more ash, shale, clinker etc, which means that the fire has to be cleaned out more often. If you burn only wood; it works better on a bed of wood ash with no grate.
-Pete- said:
Mine is wood only, around 80% efficient, I reckon 5 logs lasts the evening. Open a few doors and 5Kw heats the whole 4 bed house, I'd have to turn the (downstairs hall) thermostat up a long way to get the gas CH to kick in.
So in your calculations, what do you think the cost ratio is between wood and coal?
I have a chainsaw and a log splitter, so some of my firewood is free. Failing that, I know a farmer that will do hardwood at £25/bag which is ~£50 for 1.6 m3 so it's worth shopping around.
I live in a rural area and have access to firewood if I want it. However, it is quite a bit of effort to collect, cut and split plus the wood is not seasoned. I don't have a great deal of outdoor (or indoor) space to season the wood so this would need to be done offsite. To save £150ish a year, it simply isn't worth it. I will probably supplement bought supplies with the occasional wood collected from the woods.So in your calculations, what do you think the cost ratio is between wood and coal?
I have a chainsaw and a log splitter, so some of my firewood is free. Failing that, I know a farmer that will do hardwood at £25/bag which is ~£50 for 1.6 m3 so it's worth shopping around.
Using my calculations, I'd be looking at 10-12 split logs over the course of the evening. However, as my burner is quite small this may be 5-6 normal sized logs. In my limited experience, I found one hardwood split log would last 20-40 minutes so that would be about right.
Assuming each log weighs 0.8-0.9kg dry, that works out as 8.5kg per night or about £1.19 per evening at the prices quoted from my supplier, who are reasonably cheap for the south east. Kiln dried wood from the more expensive supplies would end up costing up to £3.00 per evening.
Coal would be about 5kg per night based on my very, very limited experience and information I've found on the web. This would result in a cost of about £2.10 per evening based on the prices quoted from my supplier.
DJC said:
-Pete- said:
Mine is wood only, around 80% efficient, I reckon 5 logs lasts the evening. Open a few doors and 5Kw heats the whole 4 bed house, I'd have to turn the (downstairs hall) thermostat up a long way to get the gas CH to kick in.
So in your calculations, what do you think the cost ratio is between wood and coal?
I have a chainsaw and a log splitter, so some of my firewood is free. Failing that, I know a farmer that will do hardwood at £25/bag which is ~£50 for 1.6 m3 so it's worth shopping around.
I live in a rural area and have access to firewood if I want it. However, it is quite a bit of effort to collect, cut and split plus the wood is not seasoned. I don't have a great deal of outdoor (or indoor) space to season the wood so this would need to be done offsite. To save £150ish a year, it simply isn't worth it. I will probably supplement bought supplies with the occasional wood collected from the woods.So in your calculations, what do you think the cost ratio is between wood and coal?
I have a chainsaw and a log splitter, so some of my firewood is free. Failing that, I know a farmer that will do hardwood at £25/bag which is ~£50 for 1.6 m3 so it's worth shopping around.
Using my calculations, I'd be looking at 10-12 split logs over the course of the evening. However, as my burner is quite small this may be 5-6 normal sized logs. In my limited experience, I found one hardwood split log would last 20-40 minutes so that would be about right.
Assuming each log weighs 0.8-0.9kg dry, that works out as 8.5kg per night or about £1.19 per evening at the prices quoted from my supplier, who are reasonably cheap for the south east. Kiln dried wood from the more expensive supplies would end up costing up to £3.00 per evening.
Coal would be about 5kg per night based on my very, very limited experience and information I've found on the web. This would result in a cost of about £2.10 per evening based on the prices quoted from my supplier.
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